Indonesia Bourse May Challenge 7,200-Point Mark

The Indonesia stock market on Monday snapped the three-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 120 points or 1.7 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,160-point plateau and it’s expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing treasury yields and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting later this week. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index rose 20.09 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 7,157.17 after trading between 7,115.04 and 7,177.70.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri spiked 2.78 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 1.45 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia both accelerated 2.76 percent, Bank Central Asia rallied 2.14 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison plunged 3.27 percent, Indocement retreated 1.63 percent, Semen Indonesia added 0.40 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.52 percent, Astra International tanked 2.86 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 1.92 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.36 percent, Aneka Tambang shed 0.63 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 3.02 percent, Timah slumped 2.52 percent, Bumi Resources surrendered 2.27 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga, Indofood Suskes and Perusahaan Gas Negara were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday and stayed that way for much of the session before a late surge sent them solidly into the green.

The Dow rallied 224.02 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 38,333.45, while the NASDAQ jumped 172.68 points or 1.12 percent to close at 15,628.04 and the S&P 500 gained 36.96 points or 0.76 percent to end at 4,927.93.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a notable pullback by treasury yields, which gave ground after moving higher last Friday. Yields fell to new lows and stocks rallied late in the session as the Treasury Department reduced its estimates for first quarter borrowing.

Earlier in the day, traders seemed reluctant to make significant ahead of several key events this week, including the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking for clues about the likelihood of rate cuts at upcoming meetings. Recent economic data has led many economists to believe the Fed is unlikely to cut rates in March, as traders had previously hoped.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday as concerns about the outlook for demand outweighed the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while a firmer dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March slipped $1.23 or 1.6 percent to settle at $76.88 a barrel.